1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bottle made of glass, especially quartz glass or crystal glass, or a ceramic material (earthenware, porcelain, some glasses, etc.), intended, in particular, for the packaging and dispensing of cosmetic products, such as perfumes.
2. Background of the Related Art
Most perfumes are packaged in glass bottles which are typically obtained by blowing or by molding. Such bottles typically comprise a closed body which is surmounted by a neck connected to the body via a shoulder and delimiting an orifice allowing the product to emerge. The neck may have a thread on its outer surface, the thread being capable of cooperating with the internal thread of a stopper. Alternatively, a pump or valve capable of being actuated by a push button is mounted, especially by crimping, on the neck. For this purpose, a bead is provided in the vicinity of the orifice delimited by the neck so as to allow the pump or valve to be crimp-fitted. Alternatively, the pump or valve may be mounted on the neck via an intermediate element which is force-fitted into the neck of the bottle, in which case the force-fitting of the intermediate element embrittles the neck and prevents very tight fitting.
Some glass bottles, on at least part of their surface, have cut and polished facets or other reliefs which improve the aesthetic appearance of the bottle. Such facets, made typically by a cutting wheel, may be located especially on the shoulder in the vicinity of the neck, in which case the neck is unavoidably ground or broken by the tools used for carrying out the various operations in the desired locations. The neck may subsequently be rebonded so as to allow a stopper or a pump to be fitted. However, the bottle is brittle in the region of the bonding zone. Moreover, adhesive, in addition to deteriorating over a period of time, may interact with the product contained in the bottle and so may appreciably impair the properties of the product.
EP-A-079,275 and EP-A-0,186,548 describe adaptor assemblies intended especially to be mounted on glass bottles of the neck type, for example in order to receive a stopper. Such assemblies are composed of two parts and require the presence of a neck in order to be mounted. Furthermore, the cost of this two-part adaptor increases the cost of the bottle substantially. Finally, because of their configuration, these adaptor assemblies do not permit the fitting of a threaded stopper or a pump or, at least, require a supplementary mounting part.
Such products may also be contained in bottles made of ceramic, especially porcelains, earthenwares or some glasses. The bottle undergoes various treatments, especially baking or enamelling, allowing it to be made leak-tight or for decorative purposes. These operations, especially baking, may slightly change the dimensional characteristics of the bottle, in particular in the region of the neck, these changes making it difficult to mount a screwed or force-fitted stopper or a pump so as to be leak-tight.